Systems and methods to detect droplet presence on vehicle windshield

A method to detect a droplet presence on a vehicle windshield, the method comprising:

• obtaining, by a processor, a binary image from an image processing module of a vehicle, wherein the image processing module is configured to:
• obtain a first image from a vehicle camera configured to capture the first image of a vehicle surrounding area, wherein the first image is an RGB image;
• identify a set of focused objects in the first image;
• identify a set of unfocused objects in the first image;
• determine a plurality of gradients associated with a plurality of pixels in the first image;
• determine that a first set of gradients, from the plurality of gradients, associated with the set of focused objects is less than a mean gradient value of the first image;
• determine that a second set of gradients, from the plurality of gradients, associated with the set of unfocused objects is greater than the mean gradient value of the first image;
• and
• generate the binary image using the first image, wherein the binary image accentuates the set of unfocused objects;
• determining, by the processor, a droplet presence on the vehicle windshield based on the binary image;
• receiving, from a additional sensor of the vehicle, information about presence of rainfall in a vicinity of the vehicle;
• and
• performing, by the processor, a predefined action based on a determination of the droplet presence and the presence of rainfall in the vicinity of the vehicle, wherein the predefined action includes sending a signal to a wiper control module of the vehicle,
• wherein the vehicle camera captures the first image of the vehicle surrounding area through the vehicle windshield, and
• wherein the wiper control module activates wipers.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

• obtain a binary image from an image processing module of a vehicle, wherein the image processing module is configured to:
• obtain a first RGB image from a vehicle camera, the first RGB image including a vehicle surrounding area;
• determine a plurality of gradients associated with a plurality of pixels in the first image;
• determine a set of focused objects in the first RGB image;
• determine a set of unfocused objects in the first RGB image;
• determine that a first set of gradients, of the plurality of gradients, associated with the focused objects is less than a mean gradient value of the first RGB image;
• determine that a second set of gradients, of the plurality of gradients, associated with the unfocused objects is greater than a mean gradient value of the first RGB image;
• and
• generate the binary image using the first image, wherein the binary image accentuates the unfocused objects;
• determine a droplet presence on a vehicle windshield based on the binary image;
• receive, from a additional sensor of the vehicle, information about presence of rainfall in the vicinity of the vehicle;
• and
• perform a predefined action based on a determination of the droplet presence and presence of rainfall in the vicinity of the vehicle, the predefined action including sending a signal to a wiper control module of the vehicle,
• wherein the vehicle camera captures the first image of the vehicle surrounding area through the vehicle windshield, and
• wherein the wiper control module activates wipers.